From Valencia to Madrid, from Madrid to Valencia, I’m back from having participated in the national session of the MEP. If you want to know what it is you can visit their official website or read my last post about it.
On this occasion I had the opportunity to meet people from all over Spain and live with them for several days. The level of the session has been unimaginable. I have been able to see firsthand people with an incredible and amazing potential (which I envy) for public speaking.
I can only give thanks for having met people so focused on their passions and with the ability to leave you speechless with their ability for improvisation, intonation, narration… I have been able to see what it is to have the gift of the gab.
There are no words to define what this experience has meant, in general the whole MEP experience. I have tried several times to put into words all that it has meant but… but I have tried.
I leave here an email I sent to the organizers about my thanks for making something like MEP possible.
This is my best attempt to describe something that has changed my life.
«In a few days it will be a month since the end of one of the best experiences of my life, and I would be lying if I said that my eyes are not filled with tears when I remember all the moments that the MEP gave me in just one weekend.
I remember how my hands were shaking in the autonomic and that smile that I could not take off at any time. I remember feeling welcomed by people, a project and an organization that encouraged us to give our best.
I arrived there without much confidence, there were schools that had been preparing the theme, the sessions, for months and had already participated before.On the other hand, the team with which I went blindly, waiting for some guideline, some clue about what they called «MEP». We were so nervous that we were among the first to arrive, but we didn’t even go in, we just stood at the door. The first person we met when we entered was Ramón, even though he was the one who came to our rescue.I couldn’t help but tell him all my doubts, and he just had to tell me «trust you, you’ll do great». Maybe it was just a cliché phrase, or maybe I didn’t even have to think twice about them, but they meant so much to me, it had been so long since anyone had said something like that to me (including me) that I believed them and they stayed with me all weekend long (…still do).
I was also able to demonstrate it within the commissions, participating, contributing ideas, sharing with my colleagues and reaching a consensus. It was three days… three days for which I have no words. The only way I could show everything they had made me feel was by hugging everyone in tears of joy and pride in all that we had done. I fell in love with the experience, I fell in love with the determination that all the young people in a small room showed.I fell in love with the confidence that was shown towards us, the encouragement and the potential that everyone showed. The atmosphere there was second to none.
You can say what you want to me, but nothing was ever the same after that.I couldn’t help but think about those three days, the respect people showed each other, the dedication and the friendship that was forged there. It was no longer enough for me to be in the classroom, I needed more, to progress and walk towards a goal. And there came a day when my teacher burst in with bated breath in math class, where I was discussing a result. No words were needed; she looked at me and I looked at her. I say nothing more was needed because two seconds later I was hugging her and crying in her arms (again), then she said the words:
Clara, honey, I am super proud of you, they have seen your potential.
You have been selected for the nationals». Needless to say, I couldn’t go back into the math class, I was so elated, so excited… so proud and shocked at the same time with myself that I was trembling, as I am now writing these words. It gave me life that moment, it gave me hope and motivation. It made me happy.
Who would have thought that I would be in Madrid a few weeks later to discuss such complex issues.It was not only the experience itself, it was also the people, those wonderful people I admire so much. I never thought I would see so much potential in people my own age.It was difficult for me not to be left with my mouth open with some of their presentations, their way of speaking and being.They made me see that there are people like me out there, people who like to be informed, to learn, to share their opinions and learn from those of others, to remedy problems and to participate with everything they have inside.
For me national was a cure, a lifeline… that’s why it’s so important for me to be able to say this. I never knew what to answer to the question «what do you want to do for a living?»
I just knew that I wanted to help people through words, to expose my ideals and to face whatever was necessary.
Being there gave me a purpose in life, a goal, a future. Finally, there, I found what I had been looking for for so long. In the blink of an eye, three days had passed. I arrived in a sea of doubts, of insecurity… and I left there aspiring to the highest, to the European Parliament. I am trying to do it, but it is really impossible for me to express what it meant to me to be there.
It was the realization that there is a place where I can fulfill all my dreams and goals, where I can really help people and do my bit (and as much as I am allowed to).The last day, in the General Assembly, a little piece of me stayed there, waiting for a more formed, prepared and confident Clara to come back to that room, ready to eat the world.
With all this, I just want to be able (or at least try) to express everything, absolutely everything, that the MEP experience has given me: I could not be more grateful.It has given me security, self-confidence, it has made me feel heard, valued and supported by an incredible group of people. And most importantly, it has given me a direction, an incredible goal to aspire to and work towards. After years of wondering what I could do for the rest of the people, if I had any qualities that I could help, this experience has taught me that the most important thing I can do for myself is to be a part of the world.
With all this, I just want to be able (or at least try) to express everything, absolutely everything, that the MEP experience has given me: I could not be more grateful.
It has given me security, self-confidence, it has made me feel heard, valued and supported by an incredible group of people. And most importantly, it has given me a direction, an incredible goal to aspire to and work towards. After years of wondering what I could do for the rest of the people, if I had any qualities with which I could help, this experience has taught me that the word is not only one of the most important things we have, but it is also the link that unites us with other people, which allows us to understand each other and aspire to greater achievements.
When the speeches were over, I turned to Ramon again, and as well as I am given the floor, I could not say a word. I hugged him, he understood me, hugged me back and said «ay my girl, you always end up the same way. You enjoyed it eh?».
And I cried the whole train back. Because it was over. But I had taken so much… I have so much thanks to MEP.I am so much thanks to MEP… there are no words to describe how my eyes sparkle when I remember those insurmountable days.There’s no way to stop that goofy grin I get when I’m asked to tell what it was like. There is no way to stop those tears that come when I know that, having meant so much to me, I have to say goodbye. In truth, I will never say goodbye, because it goes with the flow.
It pops into my mind when I hear about the EU or the projects it carries out. It pops up when I have to give a speech or present a project. It is part of me, it has made me better.
This is my way of thanking all of you who make this possible. It is my way of showing the value I place on your work and commitment.
Had it not been for this, I would still be looking for something that fulfills me, that makes me happy. Truly, thank you. And I don’t know how many times I have said it, but it is not enough, it will never be enough. Never.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart,
Clara
P.S. Needless to say, I am more than infected by the MEP virus.»
And with this I have to say goodbye to MEP, although to be honest, there will always be a little bit of MEP in me, in my ambitions and above all in my professional future.